The Kraken had two practices scheduled out east ahead of Saturday night’s game at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadephia. One was Thursday evening, the other Friday morning. They took place at the Flyers Training Center across the Delaware River from Philly in Voorhees, New Jersey.
South Jersey is also where plenty of Flyers alumni reside, and it’s a very active association.
The Kraken have had a week-and-a-half to forget about their 2-0 loss on the road to the San Jose Sharks heading into the long break. Water under the bridge; a loss against one of two worst teams in the NHL, and a blown opportunity.
All Seattle can do now is focus on what’s ahead, including getting another win over head coach John Tortorella’s Flyers, a team the Kraken beat 2-1 in overtime at Climate Pledge Arena on December 29th.
Everyone should be healthy. It’s the first of four road games before the Kraken come home to host the Detroit Red Wings on February 19th.
Titans Clash
The top two teams in the NHL in points and win percentage got together on Thursday night in Boston and the Bruins shut-out the visiting Vancouver Canucks 4-0. Linus Ullmark picked up the win in net.
The loss ended a 10-0-and-2 run for Seattle’s northern neighbors.
What stands out is the type of scoring. The Bruins scored two shorthanded goals in the first period, including one from Brad Marchand just 32-seconds into the game.
In the 2nd period, Boston made it 3-0 with a broken stick shot from the point that went off at least two sticks, a body, and a defenseman’s stick before sliding its way into the net. Yes, a fluke, that was followed 15-seconds later by a Canucks defensive breakdown on a Bruins rush that led to the 4-0 goal.
The teams are now tied atop the NHL standings with 73 points and .716 win percentages.
No Surprises
NHL.com writers at HQ put together their prospective list for Team USA at next winter’s “Four Nation’s Face-off” and there were no surprises. As we expected and explained last week, no Seattle Kraken made the list.
We’ll dive into the list again down the road as things get much closer.
Very Recent Kraken:
— Kraken D-corps Is Deep, But Any Slip Puts Schultz’s Future In Question
— Kraken Deadline; We’ll Know Jordan Eberle’s Fate Within A Month